3 Cheap & Easy Meal Ideads- Budget Friendly!

Eating healthy has this perceived notion that it is expensive, especially eating plant based. That eating fruits and vegetables are going to break the bank. Well, we did the math and we were SHOCKED to see how cheap it is! We invited our friend Preet Banerjee; Behavioural Finance Expert from Money School, to help with crunching the numbers.

We provided him three of our favourite dishes; overnight oats, Mexi bowl and sweet potato curry. And! What is also great about these recipes is, you get lots of leftovers!

Over nights are the perfect breakfast for any person on the go. You place the ingredients in a mason jar the night before and voila! you have breakfast. You start your day off right with our oats. It has two servings of fruits, complex carbs, plant protein and cinnamon to help keep your immune system strong. With the right sugars, your body won't spike and crash mid morning. This will keep you full till lunch time.

The Mexi bowl is a super flavourful bowl that is not only delicious but sooooo easy to prep and make. It has the perfect balance of carbs, protein, healthy fats and lots of greens and veggies. This lunch will keep you feeling energized throughout the day. It makes four lunches, so just assemble each bowl the night before.

We love curries, and curries come in many styles; ranging from Indian to Asian to complex to simple to make. We provided a very quick and easy Thai curry recipe that gives you 6 generous servings. Everything gets thrown into a pot and cooked in the delicious pre-made curry, coconut sauce till everything is cooked perfectly. Sweet potatoes are such a great starch, they naturally sweeten any dish, they are high in Vitamin C and other vitamins your body will be thankful for, and they are cheap! The combo of brown rice, peas and chickpeas, you will feel very satisfied after this meal. It freezes well too, so you can freeze portions for a weeknight when you can't cook or don't want to cook.

How much does each day cost you ask?! Are you ready for this? Are you sitting down? $7.91/day!!!!! If you ask us, that is freak'n insane how cheap this costs. That's how much it costs to go to Starbucks and get a grande coffee and some sort of breakfast. Makes you rethink doesn't it?

AND! We aren't even touching on the health benefits of the three meals, as opposed to eating out.

All meals have a complex carb that your brain needs to function and for you to feel fuller longer, a plant based protein that as well in combo with the complex carb helps your body feel fuller longer. Might I also mention, this protein is easier for your body to digest, so you won't feel bloated or sluggish after eating these meals. They all have healthy fats and every dish has powerful, nutrients dense fruits and vegetables. AND! You can portion control. A lot of the time, we over eat when we eat out. We also ingest unhealthy oils, too much sodium, refined carbs, not enough vegetables and additional additives to make their food tastier that our bodies don't need.

We didn't just invite our friend Preet to do all the brainy work, we also put him to work to learn how to make the Mexi bowl.

To watch us teach Preet how to make the Mexi bowl and learn how to make the other two dishes, click here!

Overnight Oats- Breakfast

This makes one serving- 16oz. Mason Jar

2/3 cups White Oats

2 tbsp. Hemp Seeds

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1 tsp. Date Syrup * You can also use Maple Syrup or Coconut Sugar

1 md. Banana, sliced

2/3 cup Fresh Berries- Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries or Raspberries

1 cup Plant based Milk- We used Almond, but you can use soy, coconut, rice, cashew or hemp.

Place in order: oats, hemp seeds, cinnamon, date syrup, banana and berries in the mason jar.

Fill with almond milk and cover with the lid.

Give it a shake and place in the fridge.

Take it on the go and eat at work, or pour into a bowl and eat before you go to work.

Heck! You can even heat it up if you want to.

Mexi Bowl- Lunch

Makes 4 generous Servings

2 cups Brown Rice

2 or 226 gr. Pobalno Peppers * A Mexican chili pepper the adds a smoky, aromatic flavour that really elevates the dish. It has a little heat, so if you are not good with heat, only add a little to your dish or skip this entirely.

2 Vine Tomatoes, medium cubed

1 English Cucumber, peeled and medium diced

2 Avocados, medium cubed

1 19 oz. can of Black Beans

4 cups, Romain Lettuce, sliced to bite size

4 tbsp. Raw Unsalted Pumpkin Seeds

4 tbsp. Salsa Verde (Green Salsa)

1 Lime, cut in quarters

Cashew Cream:

1/2 cup Raw Unsalted Cashews, soaked at least 20 minutes

3/4 cup Unsweetened Coconut Milk

1 tsp. Nutritional Yeast

1 sml. Clove Garlic

1/2 Lemon, juiced

Salt and Pepper to taste

First! Start your cashew cream.

Place everything in a high speed blender and blend till creamy and smooth.

Taste, adjust if it needs more salt or pepper.

Place in a mason jar and chill in fridge till you need it.

Start your rice. Place the rice in your rice cooker or pot with 4 cups of water and a tsp or so of salt. Cook as directed on package or as you know.

Turn your oven to broiler setting and place the poblano peppers on a tray.

Bring the rack in the oven as close to the top heat coil as possible and place the tray in. Now! This happens quickly, so don't get distracted and walk away. You are charring the skin of the pepper till it becomes black. Flip and do the same thing to the other side.

Once all black, put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to steam the peppers.

Move aside and start prepping the rest of the ingredients.

Chop lettuce, tomato, cucumber and avocado.

Drain and rinse the beans.

By this time, the peppers are cool enough to handle.

With a pairing knife, scrape the skin off.

Cut a slit and open the pepper up, scrape out the seeds and pith.

Slice length wise, then in half.

The rice should be cooked by now, so it is time to build!

Scoop a cup of rice into the center of your bowl.

Surround the rice with each ingredient.

Drizzle the cashew cream and salsa verde on top.

Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds and finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice!

Buen Apetito!

Red Thai Coconut Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry- Dinner

Makes 6 lage servings- 4L

3 lb. Organic Sweet Potatoes, skin on, large cube

1 19oz. canned Chickpeas

227gr. Whole Cremini Mushrooms, stems removed and medium cube

142 gr. Organic Baby Spinach

1 Cup Frozen Peas

1 19oz. Coconut Milk

2 cups water *or another can of coconut milk if your budget allows

2 tbsp. Coconut Oil

2 tbsp. "THAI Kitchen" Red Curry Paste *We used this brand for it is free of fish sauce

Heat over medium high a large pot.

Melt coconut oil.

Add the mushrooms and cook till caramelized, 10 minutes.

Add the sweet potatoes, chickpeas, curry paste, coconut milk and water.

Give it a good stir and bring to a boil.

Cover and cook for 30 minutes on a simmer.

Test the sweet potatoes to check for doneness. If they seem a little over done, that's ok... that's what we were going for. Makes it a yummier sauce.

Add the peas and spinach, and stir till the spinach has wilted.

Give it a taste, add a little salt if you feel it needs it.

Turn heat off and serve with brown rice or your choice of rice.

Dig in!!